Shelf supports

ABSTRACT

A shelf-supporting assembly consisting of hollow uprights which are slotted to hold shelf-supporting brackets, each upright having a vertical row of slots through one pair of opposite sides, these being arranged in offset relation so that rear ends of horizontally adjustable brackets in the upright overlap.

United States Patent [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS,1,336,971 4/1920 Levene 248/243x 2,622,834 12/1952 Sparring... 248/2432,998,107 8/1961 Zimmerla 248/243x FOREIGN PATENTS 626,905 1/1963Belgium 248/243 372,442 11/1963 Switzerland 108/108 Primary Examin erJ.Franklin Foss I Altomeys Emory L. Groff and Emory L. Groff, Jr.

, ABSTRACT: Ashelf-suppoiting assembly consisting of hollow uprightswhich are slotted to hold shelf-supporting brackets, each upright havinga vertical row of slots through one pair of opposite sides, these beingarranged in offset relation so that rear ends of horizontally adjustablebrackets in the upright overlap.

PATENTEI] Ausal ism SHEET 2 OF 2 SHELF SUPPORTS CROSS-REFERENCES TORELATED APPLICATIONS United Kingdom applications No. 56070/1/68 filed68.11.26.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION LII therethrough to receive and retainbracket ends, the uprights being what are known as Gondola or freestanding, having slots along one opposite pair of sides so that shelvescan be supported at said opposite. sides of two or more uprights bybrackets, the rear ends of which engage in the slots.

. The brackets have rear limbs to enter selected slots, these limbshaving cutouts in from edges to engage on horizontal edge portions ofsaid slots so that the brackets extend forwardly from the uprights, andby engaging selected cutouts the angular position of a bracket can beadjusted.

Where bracket limbs engage in slots in the opposite sides, it isnecessary for the rear end portions of the brackets in the hollowuprights to be arranged so that those entering from one side of theupright do not interfere with those entering from the other side. Thusthe projection depth of the rear parts can be small, so that the rearparts do not extend beyond the central plan of the upright with respectto the slotted sides. This, however, means that the projecting partsmust be small, limiting the degree of angular adjustability, or thedistance between the slotted sides must be greater than is necessary togive adequate support.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved form of uprightwhich is of small dimensions in horizontal cross section, but in whichrear bracket portions entered from opposite sides can overlap withoutmutually interfering.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention there isprovided a freestanding shelf supporting structure consisting of thecombination of an upright and a bracket supported thereby, said uprightcomprising a tube with a pair of opposite parallel sides, a vertical rowof spaced apart rectangular colinear slots through each said side withthe slots of one offset in a vertical plane with respect to those of theother row, a central spacing projection extending up from the center ofthe bottom edge of each slot, said bracket comprising a shelf supportingpart and two vertically spaced-apart hook limbs extending from the rearof said part and each tapering rearwardly each said hook limb of alength in excess of one half of the distance between said parallelupright sides, said hook limbs being spaced to enter superposed uprightslots, a series of spaced-apart slots in the lower edge of each hooklimb for the selective engagement of one slot of each limb on the loweredge of an upright slot for selective angular setting of the shelfsupporting part.

Conveniently the lower edge of the upper hook limb is concavely curvedand the lower edge of the lower edge of the lower hook limb is convexlycurved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS each having a vertically colinear rowof equispaced slots 11a, 12a, respectively. It will be seen that theslots of one row are offset in a vertical plane with respect to those ofthe other row, each row being offset to one side of the commoncenterline of the sides.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the upright is fabricated from twofacing channel section parts the side limbs of which have bent back ends110, 120, the channel section parts being retained in place by sidestrips 13, 13, with bent back ends 13a, 130, these strips serving tohold the channel section parts into a unitary structure, the assemblybeing pressed to close the end parts on to the side limbs.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the upright consists of a tube 10 ofrectangular cross section. v

The lower edge of each slot has an upstanding nib or projection 14 whichserves to space the rear bracket parts.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4,. the upright is formed with onepair of opposite sides having inset parts 11b, 12b, which are inparallel relation, each part having slots 11a, 12a. The uprightconveniently is made in two parts, welded or brazed upon the lines W-W.In FIGS. 2 and 4, the two parts are identical, thus facilitatingmanufacture.

Instead of a dividing projecting nib, a central vertical strip such as14a can divide each slot vertically into a pair of parallel slots in allembodiments, those of each pair receiving two side-by-side bracket rearend parts.

The rear end part of a bracket is shown in FIG. 5. It consists of ashelf-supporting part 15 bnd rear spaced-apart limbs 15a, 15b, shaped sothat each part can enter a slot of an upright and the part 15 adjustedin a substantially arcuate manner.

The lower edge of each limb has slots' or cutouts, those of the topbeing referenced 16a-I6c, those of the lower being referenced 17a-17d.The front end of each slot 17047:! is substantially radial with respectto a point P at the root of the slot 16a. The bracket can be adjusted inthree different angular positions by the engagement of the slot 16a onthe lower edge of one upright slot and either the slot l 7b, 17c, 17d onthe edge of a lower upright slot. A further position of adjustment isprovided by a depression 17e, which serves the same function as a slot.The top edge of the limb 15a is convexly curved and the bottom edgegenerally concavely curved. The bottom edge of the limb 15b is generallyconvexly curved at the tooth peaks on a radius about the point P.

In FIG. 5, these positions are indicated by the lines A, B, C, D, givingslopes to the horizontal of +7, 0, l0 and 20.

Further positions can be obtained by using the slot 171;, with eitherslot 16b, 16d (lines E and F) or the slots 17a and (line G). Thecurvings of the limbs 15a, 15b is such that a bracket can beliftedslightly and moved arcuately about its selected pivot point, forexample P, or P. The bottom edge of the limb 15a is generally convexlycurved at the'tooth peaks about the point P. FIGS. 6A-6D show four ofthe positions which can be obtained. The teeth are sawtooth shaped tofacilitate movement during adjustment.

It will be understood that a pair of platelike brackets can be supportedin side-by-side relation, or a bracket can have two parallel spacedapart rear parts, with two upper and two lower limbs. v I

The construction herein enables the rear bracket end parts of bracketsfrom opposite sides to overlap and reside side-byside in the upright.

The brackets at one side can therefore be adjusted for angulardisposition without interfering with brackets at the other side.

I claim:

1. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure consisting of thecombination of an upright and a bracket supported thereby, said uprightcomprising a tube with a pair of opposite parallel sides, a vertical rowof spaced-apart rectangular colinear slots through each said side withthe slots of one row offset in a vertical plane with respect to those ofthe other row, a central spacing projection extending up from the centerof the bottom edge of each slot, said bracket comprising ashelfsupporting part and two vertically spaced-apart hook limbsextending from the rear of said part and each tapering rearwardly eachsaid hook limb of a length in excess of one half of the distance betweensaid parallel upright sides, said hook limbs being spaced to entersuperposed upright slots, a series of spaced-apart slots in the loweredge of each hook limb for the selective engagement of one slot of eachlimb on the lower edge of an upright slot for selective angular settingof the shelf support part.

2. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure as claimed in claim 1wherein the lower edge of the upper hook limb is concavely curved andthe lower edge of the lower edge of the lower hook limb is convexlycurved.

3. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure as claimed in claim 2,wherein the projection comprises an upstanding rib.

4. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure as claimed in claim 2,wherein the projection comprises a central vertical strip.

5. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure as claimed in claim 2,wherein the said opposite parts include inset parts having the slotstherethrough.

1. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure consisting of thecombination of an upright and a bracket supported thereby, said uprightcomprising a tube with a pair of opposite parallel sides, a vertical rowof spaced-apart rectangular colinear slots through each said side withthe slots of one row offset in a vertical plane with respect to those ofthe other row, a central spacing projection extending up from the centerof the bottom edge of each slot, said bracket comprising ashelf-supporting part and two vertically spaced-apart hook limbsextending from the rear of said part and each tapering rearwardly eachsaid hook limb of a length in excess of one half of the distance betweensaid parallel upright sides, said hook limbs being spaced to entersuperposed upright slots, a series of spaced-apart slots in the loweredge of each hook limb for the selective engagement of one slot of eachlimb on the lower edge of an upright slot for selective angular settingof the shelf support part.
 2. A freestanding shelf-supporting structureas claimed in claim 1 wherein the lower edge of the upper hook limb isconcavely curved and the lower edge of the lower edge of the lower hooklimb is convexly curved.
 3. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the projection comprises an upstanding rib.4. A freestanding shelf-supporting structure as claimed in claim 2,wherein the projection comprises a central vertical strip.
 5. Afreestanding shelf-supporting structure as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe said opposite parts include inset parts having the slotstherethrough.